These registrations are dateless and can be assigned to any appropriate vehicle registered within mainland Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Please click View for a selection of Northern Ireland (NI) registrations that can be purchased for a fixed price.

Finding Your Ideal Registration

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is an executive agency of The Department for Transport, the government department responsible for allocating numbers to vehicles in the United Kingdom for registration, taxation and law enforcement purposes. Since 1983 certain combinations of numbers were held back from normal registration purposes following demand from customers who wished to personalise their vehicles. The DVLA started to offer these numbers for sale in 1989. There are millions of registrations available to purchase through this website, and some of the more sought after registrations are sold at special DVLA Auctions held throughout the United Kingdom.

All of the registration numbers sold by the DVLA have never previously been issued or used on vehicles.

There are 4 different styles of registration number as described below:

Current style

This is the type that has been issued to new vehicles since September 2001. It consists of two letters, followed by two numbers that help identify the age of the vehicle, and three letters at the end. For example:

These are called current style registrations because they are currently issued to new vehicles in mainland Great Britain.

The majority of current style registrations can be purchased at fixed prices through our website, although some of the more sought after current style registrations are sold at DVLA Auctions.

Prefix

This is the type that was issued to new vehicles between August 1983 and August 2001. It consists of one letter that helps identify the age of the vehicle, followed by one, two or three numbers, and three letters at the end. For example:

These are called prefix registrations because the age identifier is at the beginning of the registration number.

The majority of prefix style registrations can be purchased at fixed prices through our website, although some of the more sought after prefix style registrations are sold at DVLA Auctions.

Suffix

This is the type that was issued to new vehicles between February 1963 and July 1983. It consists of three letters, followed by one, two or three numbers, and a single letter at the end that helps identify the age of the vehicle. For example:

These are called suffix registrations because the age identifier is at the end of the registration number.

Suffix style registrations are only sold at DVLA Auctions.

Dateless

In mainland Great Britain, this is the type that was issued to new vehicles prior to February 1963. It can consist of up to four numbers followed by up to three letters, or vice versa. The maximum number of characters is six. Examples include:
or
or
or

These are called dateless because they do not contain a vehicle age identifier.

Dateless style registrations are mainly sold at DVLA Auctions.

Northern Ireland style registrations also fall within the dateless range. These consist of three letters followed by up to four numbers. All Northern Ireland registrations contain either the letter I or Z. For example:

As with other dateless registrations, there is no age identifier within Northern Ireland registrations.

A small selection of Northern Ireland registrations are available for a fixed price. More information can be found in the 'Auction' section of our website.

To begin your search, try using the yellow Super Search box at the top of the home page. Simply enter some initials, your name, or anything else you would like to have on your number plate, and we will provide a small selection of the choices available to you.

You can then refine your search by using the search options on the right hand side to only see a particular style or price range.

If you see a style of registration you like in the Super Search results, try clicking 'View Results' to see a larger selection from that style.

If you already know the style of registration you want, try our Prefix or Current style searches in the main yellow box at the top of the home page.

If you are unable to find your perfect registration or have a specific request please contact us by email or telephone - dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk/contactus and we will try our best to help you with your search. Registrations that are not currently available but have never been previously issued to vehicles could be offered for sale at future DVLA Auctions.

If you are still unable to find the registration you want because it has been previously sold or issued to a vehicle, you could find out if it is currently being offered by a cherished number dealer. A selection of dealers can be found here:

The DVLA does not endorse or recommend any particular individual or company, and the DVLA will not accept responsibility for any issues arising from this referral or the content of third party websites.

Previously issued registrations are not resurrected for sale, even if they are no longer on a vehicle. Should this situation change, we will ensure that full details appear on this website. You may email us with your contact details and we will let you know if there are any policy changes -